Approximately 50 trucks carrying Turkish humanitarian aid arrived in the Gaza Strip on Thursday via Israel’s Kerem Shalom border crossing, according to a Palestinian border official.
Mounir Ghalban, who oversees the Palestinian side of the crossing, told Anadolu Agency that the trucks – carrying nearly 2,000 tons of humanitarian aid – entered the strip early Thursday.
According to Ghalban, the aid – which includes basic foodstuffs, fuel, clothing and toys – will be stored in warehouses run by Gaza’s Social Affairs Ministry before being distributed to Gaza’s neediest residents and to Palestinian orphans.
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In previous comments to Anadolu Agency, Yusuf Ibrahim, undersecretary of Gaza’s Social Affairs Ministry, said a total of 400 trucks carrying aid were expected to reach the enclave within coming days.
On Sunday, the Turkish aid ship “Lady Leyla” docked in Israel’s port of Ashdod carrying 11,000 tons of humanitarian aid destined for Gaza.
Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has existed under a joint Israeli-Egyptian blockade that has deprived its roughly 1.9 million inhabitants of their most basic needs, especially food, fuel, medicine and construction supplies.
(Anadolu, PC)
